At the 2013 NAMM Show, Numark today introduced a portable wireless MIDI controller, the Orbit.
The Orbit offers 16 backlit pads, 4 bank controllers, a large aluminum control wheel, built-in 2-axis accelerometer, belt clip, and 8 hours of continuous wireless use on a single charge.
The Numark Orbit
Numark’s Orbit is like a wireless game controller for MIDI. Orbit can be used wired via the included USB cable, which also charges it, or wireless using 2.4 GHz connectivity.
The Orbit features 4 selectable banks of 16 backlit pads, 8 on each side. Located in the center of Orbit are 4 bank selection buttons, 4 virtual knobs, and a large aluminum-faced touch- sensitive control wheel, which controls the selected virtual knob for tweaking effects and filters.
The Orbit also offers an embedded 2-axis accelerometer, which can be assigned to 2 different parameters per bank and activated via 2 shoulder buttons.
All of Orbit’s controls are fully mappable, so they can be mapped to effects control, transport control, volume control, or any other MIDI parameter.
The Orbit is priced at $99 and is expected to be available this spring.
It looks like Simon Says on steroids.
say such a sentence seven times swiftly!
This seems more appropriate for controlling a Playstation or something…and I don’t quite get the point of the accelerometers and the belt clip when you’d clearly need to put it down in order to use the knob or switch the buttons to select the virtual knob…but an interesting concept, for $99 I can’t be too critical.
This is shaping up to be one of the most interesting NAMMs in years.
Clearly this is meant to be strapped to your chest, so you can look super cool.
it is like a Sony PSP and a Novation Launchpadhad a baby ..
Painfully ridiculous…
its nice to see numark come out with a unique design!!!
Hey, at least someone is thinking out of the box!
(- and onto… the construction site? Wonder if a derrick or excavator has MIDI support?)
Actually, considering the price, I would consider getting this.
I mean, sure, this is something of a novelty, but I love anything with accelerometers. Hopefully, they’ve made it just so that playing the pads with your thumbs feels natural. If it’s small enough, you could play with the wheel without putting it down or holding it with one hand.
Considering the shows I play are pretty relaxed and chill, this could mean some fun performance-moments as I just walk away from my laptop for a while.
And I just saw the DJ TechTools-article about it (which included a in-action photo and short video). It definately looks small enough to fit nicely in my hands, though the wheel may not always feel as natural, and it seems as if the bank/wheel-buttons would ruin the otherwise controlling flow.
Come to think of it, I would enjoy two shoulder-buttons more, or some touch-faders or the alike on the back (taking a cue from the PS Vita).
That would make a sweet belt buckle.
Would love to see a stand-alone FX program that’ll work with the popular DJ software (like Mix Emergency for video) that will utilize the mapping possibilities of this and other controllers.